1,720,963 research outputs found
Corneo–conjunctival leukoplakia: histology and confocal microscopy
No full textPurpose: To explore corneo-conjunctival leukoplakias using in vivo confocal microscope and to
compare images to histology and impression cytology specimens.
Methods: Twenty-nine patients affected by corneo-conjunctival leukoplakia, after evaluation with slit lamp exam, were investigated with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II, Rostock Cornea Module. Subsequently a diagnostic excision or impression cytology of the cornea and/or conjunctiva was performed.
Results: Histology identified seventeen Pterygia, six Pingueculas, two limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), one suture-related corneal vascularization, one cicatricial Pterygoid and two corneal intraepitelial neoplasias (CIN). Confocal microscopy was compared to histopathologic sections and impression citology specimens.
In all patients typical white colour of lesions was attribuable to a different degree of reactive hyperkeratosis.
The main pathological features were visible on our confocal microscopy images: infiltration of conjunctival tissue surrounding lesions, vascularization, cellular morphology and activity, changes in extracellular matrix and modifications of limbar architecture.
Conclusions: Confocal microscopy may be a useful aid for diagnosis and follow up in primitive and secondary corneo-conjunctival lesions. However the ability to provide high resolution, real-time images of the full thickness of the living human cornea and conjunctiva is strictly dependent on surface transparency and additional studies are required to establish exact correlations between confocal microscopy images and histopatology
Vitreous incarceration in sclerotomies after valved 23-, 25-, or 27-gauge and nonvalved 23- or 25-gauge macular surgery
Full text linkPurpose: To study the patterns of vitreous incarceration at sclerotomy sites by ultrasound biomicroscopy in patients subjected to valved or nonvalved small-gauge pars plana vitrectomy. Methods: A prospective comparative study of 88 eyes affected by epiretinal membrane and macular hole. Patients were divided into four groups: valved or nonvalved 23-gauge (16 eyes each) and valved or nonvalved 25-gauge (20 eyes each); their vitreal disposition was compared by ultrasound biomicroscopy. Vitreal disposition was also assessed in 16 eyes of 16 patients subjected to valved 27-gauge pars plana vitrectomy. Results: Three vitreal patterns were identified: P0 (vitreous not visible or vitreous strand distant from the sclerotomy site), P1 (vitreous strand parallel to and in contact with the sclerotomy site), and P2 (vitreous strand entrapped in the sclerotomy site). The effect of valved trocar use on vitreous incarceration seemed to be somewhat beneficial, but no statistically significant effect could be shown (odds ratio: 0.85, 95% confidence interval: 0.42-1.74, P = 0.657). Similarly, no differences in vitreous incarceration were shown among vitrectomy gauges (23, 25, or 27) both in a model including valved trocars only (P = 0.858) and in a model with all available data (P = 0.935). Conclusion: In 23- and 25-gauge macular surgeries, postoperative vitreous incarceration does not seem to be reduced using valved cannulas and was similar to that observed in 27-gauge surgery
Improving Boston type 1 keratoprosthesis procedure: one-touch femtosecond-assisted preparation and centration of donor carrier tissue
No full textWe describe a technique to avoid decentration of the visual axis of the Boston type 1 keratoprosthesis (Kpro), performing 2 concentric trephinations with femtosecond laser
Microbiological features of acute bacterial conjunctivitis in a central Italian area
No full textThe study aims to identify bacteria causing conjunctivitis in a central Italian area and to analyze chemosusceptibility. From 2005 to 2006, 91 conjunctival swabs were collected from acute conjunctivitis cases and screened for common bacteria and fungi. Susceptibility tests were performed on isolates. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae amounted to 86.2%. Overall, 100% of strains were susceptible to chloramphenicol and 96.6% to quinolones. Conversely, 20.7% of isolates were tetracycline-resistant and, even if all Gram negative isolates were susceptible to gentamicin, the most frequently isolated pneumococci are constitutively resistant. The study provides support for a rational choice of empiric therapy
Morphologic study of the cornea by in vivo confocal microscopy and optical coherence tomography after bifocal refractive corneal inlay implantation
Full text linkTo evaluate the biocompatibility of the Flexivue Microlens intracorneal inlay based on healing of corneal wounds and analysis of corneal structural features using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT)
Bifocal refractive corneal inlay implantation to improve near vision in emmetropic presbyopic patients
No full textPURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Flexivue Microlens corneal inlay for the improvement of near vision in emmetropic presbyopic patients.
SETTING: Ophthalmology Department, Misericordia e Dolce Hospital, Prato, Italy.
DESIGN: Prospective interventional case series.
METHODS: Corneal inlay implantation was performed in nondominant eyes using a 150 kHz femtosecond laser (iFS). Refraction, uncorrected (UNVA) and corrected (CNVA) near visual acuities, uncorrected (UDVA) and corrected (CDVA) distance visual acuities, slitlamp evaluation, wavefront aberrometry, photopic and mesopic contrast sensitivity, anterior segment optical coherence tomography, endothelial cell density, and central corneal thickness measurements were assessed preoperatively and at each postoperative visit.
RESULTS: The study evaluated 81 eyes. In 26 eyes, the mean preoperative UNVA and UDVA were 0.76 logMAR and 0.00 logMAR, respectively, compared with 0.10 logMAR and 0.15 logMAR, respectively, 36 months postoperatively. Sixteen (62%) of 26 treated eyes lost more than 1 line of UDVA, and 5 (19%) lost more than 2 lines of UDVA. Two eyes (8%) lost more than 1 line of CDVA at 36 months. The mean binocular UDVA was 0.00 logMAR preoperatively and 0.02 logMAR at 36 months. The mean spherical aberration increased after surgery. Statistically significant differences in the mean mesopic and photopic contrast sensitivities at higher spatial frequencies were found between treated eyes and nontreated eyes. Explantation was performed in 6 treated eyes because of halos, glare, and a reduced UDVA.
CONCLUSION: The corneal inlay might be a safe and effective method of improving UNVA in emmetropic presbyopic patients.
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: Dr. Fantozzi is a member of the Presbia medical advisory board. No other author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
© 2015 ASCRS and ESCR
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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